Cancer Research

A new study out of Penn Medicine shows that the tumor-suppressor protein p53 brings speckles and DNA together to boost gene expression.

Giving early-stage pancreatic cancer patients a CD40 immune-stimulating drug helped jumpstart a T cell attack to the notoriously stubborn tumor microenvironment before surgery and other treatments.

The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center received the award for his work in developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

The Richard W. Vague professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has been recognized in the “future” category for his contributions to molecular medicine.

By making it the default to send screening tests to patients’ homes unless they opted out via text message, screening rates increased by more than 1000%.

Patients with inactive cancer and not currently undergoing treatments also face a significantly higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, with Black cancer patients twice as likely to test positive for the virus.

Several genetic mutations previously linked to breast cancer and included on commercial genetic tests were found not to increase a woman’s risk of disease, according to a multi-institutional population study of more than 64,000 women.

As the nation prepares for its 46th president to take office Wednesday, Jan. 20, Penn Today reflects on the lasting impact he’s had at the University.

The backlog of diagnostic mammograms is not expected to return to regular operations for nearly six months at best, and a lack of early detection will have health implications on cancer management for years to come.